U.23 Vietnam has a big advantage that makes U.23 Thailand wish: If only…

When the 33rd SEA Games takes place in December this year, the V-League will be suspended so that the U.23 Vietnam players can fully concentrate on the Southeast Asian Games. Meanwhile, the U.23 Thailand team will not have the same luck.

U.23 Vietnam receives maximum support from V-League

According to the agreement between the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) and the clubs of the Thai-League, each club will only provide 1-2 players for the Thai U.23 team to participate in the SEA Games, in case the Thai U.23 team requests.

U.23 Vietnam always receives maximum support from V-League in official international tournaments.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

This is in contrast to what is happening with Vietnamese football, where the U.23 Vietnam team receives full priority. The V-League will be on hiatus during the 33rd SEA Games. After the V-League, the national championships of Indonesia and Malaysia will do the same. Indonesian and Malaysian football will also stop their domestic tournaments during the SEA Games.

Faced with the above reality, Thailand U.23 team coach Thawatchai Dumrong Aungtrakun spoke up: "I hope FAT will continue to work with Thai-League clubs and the tournament's organizing committee. It will be very helpful for Thailand U.23 team if Thai-League is suspended during the 33rd SEA Games. Thailand U.23 team needs maximum support from domestic clubs if we still aim to win the SEA Games gold medal."

U.23 Vietnam conquers SEA Games 33 gold medal: Why not?

Coach Thawatchai Dumrong Aungtrakun and the Thai football world have seen the advantages of the Vietnamese teams when participating in regional tournaments recently. Every time the national teams and the U23 Vietnam team compete in important tournaments, such as the AFF Cup or the U23 Southeast Asia tournament, the V-League is suspended, Coach Kim Sang-sik of the national team and the U23 Vietnam team is always comfortable calling up the players he likes to join the team. This greatly contributes to helping the Vietnamese team win the AFF Cup 2024, and the U23 Vietnam team win the U23 Southeast Asia championship in 2025.

U.23 Thailand wants Thai-League to change

On the contrary, the Thai national teams have not been very successful in the above mentioned tournaments. The Thai national team and U.23 Thailand have often clashed interests with Thai-League clubs, because when regional tournaments take place, the ball still rolls in Thai-League.

U.23 Thailand (white shirt) had difficulty in making a list to attend the SEA Games, because domestic clubs only released limited players.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

Coach Thawatchai Dumrong Aungtrakun of Thailand U23 earnestly hopes: "It has been many years since Thai football has won a SEA Games gold medal (since the 29th SEA Games in 2017). I know that fans are yearning for this title, so the Thai U23 team needs more support from the clubs. I have almost completed the list of 23 players for the SEA Games, but I still cannot avoid risks, and need to consider the possibility of replacing certain players due to injury or performance. That is why we have registered up to 70 players for the preliminary list with the SEA Games Organizing Committee."

At the 32nd SEA Games in 2023 in Cambodia, U.23 Thailand lost to U.23 Indonesia in the final. At the 31st SEA Games in 2022 in Vietnam, U.23 Thailand lost to U.23 Vietnam in the final. Before that, at the 30th SEA Games in 2019 in the Philippines, the U.23 Thailand team was eliminated by U.23 Vietnam in the group stage.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-viet-nam-so-huu-loi-the-lon-khien-u23-thai-lan-ao-uoc-gia-ma-185250919161442092.htm